The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) this week released unemployment figures for the month of January, 2012 for each Indiana county as well as the State of Indiana. The State of Indiana showed a decrease in its rate from December of 2011 to January of 2012 of 0.2% down to 8.7%. The national rate for the month was reported at 8.3%, also a decrease of 0.2%.

County-by-county for January showed that 86 of the 92 counties reflected an increase in their individual rates, including Starke County which saw an increase of 1.2%, from a revised 10.5% rate for December, up to 11.7% for January. Indiana reports its own rate using seasonably adjusted figures, while they report individual counties using non-seasonably adjusted rates. That results in a lower state rate than would otherwise be reported if the same methods of reporting were used.

Indiana continues to enjoy the second lowest rate among all adjoining states, with Ohio being the lowest at 7.7%. Indiana added 13,000 private sector jobs in January, which was the largest monthly increase in over a year.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) earlier this week released its unemployment report for the month of November. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics had earlier released its own report showing that the national unemployment rate had dipped to 8.6% after being at 9.0% in October. For November, the State of Indiana rate stayed at 9.0%, while the Starke County rate increased slightly from 10.3% up to 10.5%. In a mixed bag of reporting, about half of all Indiana counties saw some increase in their rate from October, and about the same number saw a decrease. On the national level, 42 states reported a decrease, 3 went up, and 4 stayed the same.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has released its unemployment report for the month of October. A total of 71 of Indiana's 92 counties saw an increase in their rate from the September report, including Starke County. The rate for Starke County increased from 10.1% to 10.3%, putting the rate back to where it was in August of this year. The rate for the State of Indiana also increased to 9.0%, which matches the national unemployment rate for the month of October.

Indiana continues to have the lowest rate in the Midwest region, tying Ohio, while being considerably lower than Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky.

While the U.S. and State of Indiana unemployment rates either went up or stayed the same for September, the Indiana office of Workforce Development (DWD), in a report issued this morning, found that the Starke County rate went down to 10.1% from 10.3% in August. The U.S. rate remained at 9.1% and the Indiana rate went up from 8.7% to 8.9%. However, Indiana remained at a lower rate than any of the four contigious states for the 8th consecutive month. Those states have a range of 9.8% up to 11.9%.

The Starke County rate is now down from 12.1% recorded in January of this year and is the second month in a row that it has been down from the previous month.

Starke County reached a milestone of sorts last week with the release of new unemployment figures by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) for the month of August.First, Starke County was one of only 29 counties in Indiana to see a decrease in its unemployment rate from the previous month, going from 10.4% down to 10.3%.Second, for the first time since October of 2009, Starke County was not listed among the top ten counties in the State of Indiana for the highest unemployment rate.Third, the 10.3% rate is down from the 12.1% rate for January of this year.Fourth, Starke County registered a decrease in its rate, while the State of Indiana went from 8.5% up to 8.7%, and the U.S. unemployment rate stayed the same at 9.1%.As far as neighboring states was concerned, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, and Kentucky all remained higher than Indiana, registering from a low of 9.1% to a high of 11.2%.

The Indiana Office of Workforce Development today issued its July unemployment report for both the State of Indiana as well as each Indiana County. The Indiana rate increased .2% from June to finish at 8.5%, while the Starke County rate grew from 10.3 to 10.4% for the month.

THe neighboring states of Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan all saw increases in their unemployment rates from June to July, with Ohio at 9.0%, Kentucky and Illinois at 9.5%, and Michigan at 10.9%.

The Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has issued its June report of unemployment rates around the State, which report lists Starke County with the State's 5th highest level of unemployment at 10.3%, up one-tenth from May's revised rate of 10.2%. The State as a whole also increased from 8.1% in May to 8.3% in June, while the national unemployment rate rose from 9.1% up to 9.2% for the month. Indiana continued to have the lowest rate among its contiguous states, with Ohio at 8.8%, Illinois at 9.2%, Kentucky at 9.6%, and Michigan at 10.5%.

Even at the reported rate of 10.3%, Starke County has seen a decrease in such rate from 12.1% in January of 2011.

Starke County was one of only 19 counties in the State of Indiana which registered a decrease in its unemployment rate from April to May according to figures just released by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) for the month of May. The May report showed Starke County going down from 10.2% in April (a revised number from that previously reported) to 10.1% in April. In addition, the rate for the county has dropped a full two percentage points since January, 2011, when the rate was 12.1%.

The State of Indiana registered no change in its overall unemployment rate, remaining at 8.2%, while the national uemployment rate grew from 9.0% in April to 9.1% in May.

The April unemployment rates have been released by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD). According to that report, 91 of Indiana's 92 Counties saw a decrease of some level in their unemployment rates from March to April, with Starke County dropping from 11.2% in March to 10.1% in April. The State of Indiana also registered a decrease from 8.5% in March to 8.2% in April. States surrounding Indiana continue to experience higher unemployment rates than Indiana, with Illinois at 8.7%, Kentucky at 10.0%, Michigan at 10.2%, and Ohio at 8.6%.

On the National level, the unemployment rate rose from 8.8% in March to 9.0% in April.

For Starke County, the April rate of 10.1% is the lowest rate reported since November of 2008, when the rate for the County was 9.0%. That rate has continued from December of 2008 to be over 11% until this most recent release of information. It is also the third consecutive month that the rate has decreased in 2011.

The Starke County unemployment rate dipped by 1% from February to March, matching a trend seen throughout the State of Indiana, in that 91 of the 92 counties recorded a decrease over the previous month, and the other county saw the same rate as the previous month. The State of Indiana rate dropped by .3%, from 8.8% in February to 8.5% in March, besting all of the contiguous Midwestern States of Michigan (10.3%), Ohio (8.9%), Kentucky (10.2%, and Illinois (8.8%).

All of the counties contiguous to Starke County registered drops ranging from .3% to .7%. Despite improvement, Starke County still registered the 10th highest unemployment rate in the State of Indiana for the month.